Recipes

Chosen from The Riverford Farm Cook Book, Guy Watson writes "We hold an annual Pumpkin Day at the farm, when we have up to 2000 visitors. When we tried this pumpkin soup last year, Russell and Emily, who work in the Field Kitchen, succeeded in turning a random idea into something fabulous. The ingredients list may look long but it is delicious and easy to make. Roasting the pumpkin gives a better result but is not absolutely necessary."

Serves 6-8

    1 pumpkin or squash (about 1.5kg), peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm cubes
    3 tbsp olive oil
    2 onions, finely chopped
    1/2 tsp smoked paprika
    3 garlic cloves, crushed
    2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
    400g can of tomatoes
    1 L chicken or vegetable stock
    425g can of red kidney beans, drained
    2 cooked corn cobs
    1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
    Juice of 1 lime
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish
  
    100g tortilla chips, crushed
    75g Jarlsberg cheese, grated
    2 tbsp chopped coriander
    1 ripe avocado, peeled, diced and tossed with the juice of 2 limes

Method

Place the pumpkin cubes on a roasting tray and toss them with 1 tbsp of olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in a preheated oven at 180C and roast for 40 minutes until slightly coloured.

Menwhile heat the rest of the olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for 20 minutes, until tender and slightly caramelised. Stir in the paprika, garlic and chillies and cook for three minutes. Add the tomatoes, simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced and thick, then stir in the roast pumpkin. Puree with a hand blender, slowly adding the stock until well combined. Bring to the boil and add the kidney beans and the kernels from the corn cobs. Season well, adding chilli sauce and lime juice and simmer for 10 minutes.

Before serving, add half the garnish ingredients and fold them through the soup, then scatter the rest on top.